Bring on that Beat

By Rachel Isadora and Jennifer Coburn

Pluck a fat bass, play me an ace. Trumpet a song, groove the night long. Saxophone jive, keep us alive! When a jazz trio begins playing under a streetlamp, everyone comes out to listen and dance. It's Harlem in the 1930s, and jazz has the power to make them groove. Combining her fine oil painting style with computer-manipulated colors, Rachel represents the shapes and colors of jazz in a tribute to Duke Ellington with a nod toward painters Klee and Kandinsky. Operating almost wordlessly, the innovative visuals are sprinkled with riffs of slang in snappy couplets-telling a bigger story of how the influence of jazz goes far beyond the neighborhood in this book. This tour de force brings jazz alive for the youngest children.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039923232X
• ISBN13: 9780399232329
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 0.4" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

This is a book is filled with the creatvity of music

I bought this for my 2 1/2 year old son who loves music. I found myself reading and making music based on the flow of the words. Everytime we read we create different music. This is his favorite relaxtion book. We went to a music feast and he yelled out "Pluck a fat bass. Play me a ace." to the bass player. Who smiled and proceeded to do just that... This is a rich and well written book.

A visually striking celebration of jazz

"Bring on That Beat," by Rachel Isadora, is a book that celebrates jazz through poetry and illustrations. The book jacket notes that it takes place in Harlem in the 1930s.The illustrations are primarily in black-and-white, with a charcoal-like look. Superimposed on these illustrations are playfully surreal multicolored accents. The result is quite striking; the book has a visual style that bursts with fun and energy.The illustrations capture many marvelous images: children dancing, a band jamming on a rooftop, a brilliantly lit-up city skyline, a trumpeter lit by streetlight. Duke Ellington is celebrated in the book's poetry: "Duke Ellington-- / King o' the sun. / Cool as a cat, / He's where it's at." "Bring On" is an excellent celebration of American culture.

Hot Hot Hot

This is just the best book I have ever seen. I mean this! I am a music teacher in Southern California in the public school system and a student's parent showed it to me. I went on line to order a copy and saw this review option and decided that this was such a fantastic book I had to put in the time to tell people. I hope this gets published. I loved this book because it makes you really see music.....jazz. It sings. I could see the sounds. I showed it to my 5th graders and they had a blast and decided to do a project based on it. They are composing music with pictures to accompany it. What a thrill to have someone create such a book! Jazz is the love of my life and this is just GREAT!